Coyotes News

'Yotes Notes: Hawerchuk Wishes Doan Luck as He Pursues Record

GLENDALE – Dale Hawerchuk thinks it would be quite fitting for Shane Doan to break his franchise record for goals scored on Thursday night when the Coyotes host the Winnipeg Jets at Gila River Arena.

“That would be a great way for him to do it,” Hawerchuk said on Wednesday, the day after Doan notched his second NHL hat trick to tie Hawerchuk with 379 goals. “As a player, whenever you approach a milestone like this you always want to get it done as fast you can and move on. I’m sure Shane is feeling that, and if it comes against Winnipeg that would be a great way to do it because there will be a lot of folks from Winnipeg watching that game who know Shane from the early days of his career.”

Hawerchuk scored 379 goals playing for Winnipeg from 1981-1990. The Jets, of course, relocated to Arizona in 1996, the season after Doan’s rookie season in the NHL. He scored seven goals in 74 games for Winnipeg before the move.

Hawerchuk said he wouldn’t be able to watch the Coyotes vs. Jets game on Thursday because the Barrie Colts, for whom he is the head coach, will be playing an Ontario Hockey League game vs. Sudbury.

“I wish him luck,” Hawerchuk said. “It will be a great achievement. Shane has had a great career and has been a real pro and a real classy pro at that. To have that kind of longevity and to put those numbers up, you can’t help but have respect for that.”

Hawerchuk was the first overall pick at the 1981 NHL Draft and won the Calder Trophy with the Jets in 1981-82. In 1985, he was the runner-up for the Hart Trophy behind Wayne Gretzky. He left the Jets in 1990-91 and played a total of 1,188 NHL games for four teams. He finished with 1,409 points (518 goals and 891 assists) and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2001.

On April 5, 2007, the Coyotes added Hawerchuk into the franchise’s Ring of Honor in a ceremony at what was then called Glendale Arena.

• Louis Domingue will get the start in goal for Arizona on Thursday when the Coyotes host Winnipeg in a New Year’s Eve match-up.

Domingue stopped 19 of 22 shots over two periods vs. Chicago on Tuesday in relief of Anders Lindback, who allowed three goals on five shots in the first period.

“We just need some more saves,” Head Coach Dave Tippett said after Tuesday’s game.

Domingue is 2-0-1 in his past three starts and stopped 91 of 97 shots in those games. All of those games were played at home.

• Defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Zbynek Michalek suffered injuries late in the third period vs. Chicago on Tuesday, but Tippett said both players are “fine” and he expects them to be in the lineup on Thursday. Meanwhile, Tippett said centers Martin Hanzal (lower-body injury) and Boyd Gordon (upper-body injury) would not play vs. Winnipeg.